Apparatus for entering a sealed enclosure



April 22, 1969 v J- J. PERKINS ETAL.

APPARATUS FOR ENTERING A SEALED ENCLOSURE Filed Dec. 6, 1965 INVENTORQ J 1 \Z' eek/4 8 Aaae'z'r' .5. (fraud United States Patent Oflice 3,439,966 Patented Apr. 22, 1969 US. Cl. 312-1 6 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE According to the present invention a sterile room is provided with a top floor and vertical wall. An opening is provided in the vertical wall, and a sheet-like pseudopodia is connected to the periphery of the opening so that the pseudopodia completely closes the opening. The pseudopodia has integral gloves and a face receiving member on it so that a person can see through the pseudopodia and also work through it. The pseudopodia is sufficiently long so that a person can actually walk with the pseudopodia into the room and walk around the floor of the room, thereby caring for patients or doing other duties inside the room.

The invention involves a system and apparatus for providing human patient care in a sterile germ free environmental room suitable for single and multiple occupancy. Generally, the purpose of the invention is to provide a room which will permit controlled living conditions within the room. The room is especially suited for use in caring for patients having cancer or other disease. A specified environment can be maintained in the room to permit metabolic studies, surgery, or other nursing and therapeutic services without adding microbial contamination to the environment or detracting from chosen patient comfort and may be used as a primary isolation system.

The room disclosed herein is constructed of several suitable materials. One part of the room walls is transparent, flexible, collapsible material, and the other part has rigid and transparent characteristics. The flexible portion of the room may be easily attached and dismantled from the rigid portion of the room. The flexible portion may be double-jacketed construction with sterile air as a filling medium between the jackets. A suitable monitoring system can be provided to sense the pressure between the double jacket to insure that either jacket has not been punctured. This room has adequate dimensions to permit one or more patients freedom of movement throughout the room while in an ambulatory state.

The room and furnishings are capable of being maintained under demonstrable germ free conditions. Sterilization may be accomplished by ethylene oxide gas at atmospheric pressure just following the displacement of the room air by the ethylene oxide gas.

The room may have provisions for complete nursing care and patient comfort accomplished by means of two plastic pseudopodia for each room which may project into the room to allow the nursing carepersonnel to walk into the room. The plastic pseudopodia will invaginate ahead of the user providing complete mobility and access to the room. The word pseudopodia is used herein to define a flexible person receiving member that is attached around one edge to an entrance opening in a wall to allow the person received in the flexible member to enter the room yet be isolated from the atmosphere in the room. The pseudopodia reacts in an extended telescopic or accordian like fashion behind the user and is supported by a flexible framework comprising part of the room. At the users end of the pseudopodia there is a configuration or pattern which encloses part of the users head,

arms, torso, and lower extremities with freedom of arm movement through extensible glove portions.

More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide a combination room and pseudopodia with all facilities required for maintaining sterile environment.

Another object of the invention is to provide a means for nursing care of a person in a sterile room whereby an attendant may enter the room without coming into contact with the atmosphere therein.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved combination pseudopodia and room heretofore not disclosed, which will permit human beings to live in a sterile environment for extended periods of time.

With the above and other objects in view, the present invention consists of the combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawing and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes may be made in the form, size, proportions, and minor details of construction without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is an isometric view partly broken away of a room and pseudopodia according to the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a schematic top view of the invention.

Now with more particular reference to the drawing, the room 10 is shown, which may be of suitable construction having suitable 'windows therein to make it suitable to contain a germ free atmosphere. One sidewall may have the glass window 11. Another side wall may have a flexible wall 12 with suitable gloves attached thereto as shown connected in a conventional manner. This will allow an attendant to attend to a patient lying on the bed 24 without entering the room. An entrance wall 13 may have a suitable door opening therein with a pseudopodia 15 attached at its outer edges to the edges of the opening so that a person may enter the pseudopodia and thereby enter the room without coming into contact with the ambient air inside the room. The word ambient means the air in the room around the contents of the room. The pseudopodia may have suitable head, arm, and feet receiving portions. The head portion will have a transparent vision permitting member, so that the attendant will have a good view of the inside of the room, gloves, and shoes, as shown.

An air plenum chamber 17 is shown for distributing air throughout the room through openings in the ceiling. An additional air duct 20 may supply sterile, germ free air from a central console 23 which receives outside air from the duct 22 and has suitable means to sterilize the outside air. A sterilizing chamber may be connected to the inside of the room at 20 to sterilize various articles inside of the room, and air from inside the room may escape to an exhaust system through duct 18 and exhaust duct 25. The room may have a door 14 to which access may be had by way of a transfer back or trap chamber 26 having an outside and an inside door, as shown. The room has a floor, as shown.

In the top view of the room, two separate pseudopodia 15 and 16 are shown, as indicated.

In use, an attendant person may enter the pseudopodia as indicated and thereby enter the room to care for the patient and do all things that are necessary to carry out the functions in the room. The accordian like connection 30 provides a convenient way of maintaining the slack on the pseudopodia and preventing it from inconveniencing the operator. The pseudopodia may be carried entirely outside of the room or the attendant may move to any part of the inside of the room.

The foregoing specification sets forth the invention in its preferred practical forms but the structure shown is capable of modification within a range of equivalents without departing from the invention which is to be understood is broadly novel as is commensurate with the appended claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. In combination, a floor and a vertical wall of an enclosure,

said wall having a first side and a second side 'and an opening in said wall above said floor extending upward to a height to accommodate a person, and a flexible pseudopodia made of a flexible sheet of material permanently attached at its edges to said walls around said opening whereby a person inside said pseudopodia on a first side of said wall may move with substantially said entire pseudopodia through said opening in said wall and move a substantial distance from said wall on said second side,

said pseudopodia having means to receive the body, head, arms, feet, and legs of said person, whereby 'said person may view the second side of said wall, may walk through said opening into said enclosure to the second side of said wall and may have use of his hands on the second side of said wall,

said pseudopodia providing means to protect the said person from exposure to the atmosphere inside said enclosure on the second side of said wall.

2. The personal care unit recited in claim 1 wherein said foot receiving means comprises shoe means for receiving the feet of a person whereby said attendant person can walk on the floor of said room.

3. The personal care unit recited in claim 2 wherein said pseudopodia has glove means thereon extending from the room side of said pseudopodia whereby said attendant person can use his hands inside said room.

4. The unit recited in claim 1 wherein said pseudopodia has a torso, arms, head, and leg receiving portions thereon are generally contoured to conform to one side of the body of an attendant person.

5. The combination recited in claim 4 wherein said head receiving member comprises a transparent vision permitting member.

6. The combination recited in claim 1 wherein said pseudopodia comprises two flexible sheets with a space between said sheets,

said space receiving air under pressure.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,355,230 11/1967 Trexler 312-1 3,051,163 8/1962 Trexler 128-1 X 3,051,164 8/1962 Trexler 128-1 X 3,265,059 8/1966 Matthews 128-1 3,339,992 9/ 1967 Trexler 312-3 DALTON L. TRULUCK, Primary Examiner.

U.S. C1. X.R. 

